Trouble and Stupidness at the Dog Park Site
Over the past couple of weeks its been a trying time for the cats at the feral colonies I feed them at.
A couple of weeks ago, the county started cutting down trees and clearing brush near the bridges that run along the creek (for flood control), clearing from the creeks edge all the way up to the creek. This got out group a bit concerned, so we complained a bit to the officials that there is a cat colony near where the workers are cutting and we didn't want them to disturb it. After a short phone meeting with those involved, it was agreed on what was being done and they would leave the colony in peace.
So we adjusted a little and life went on.
Earlier this week one of our feeders was shocked to discover the feeding stations and cat shelters (about a dozen total from both sites) were GONE, and the cats back in the brush (where the stations were) looking scared and very confused. Is seems someone made a complaint about the cats and also the possibility that homeless people wandering around back where the cat shelters were placed were eating them, So the Sheriff's Dept. came with a truck load of convict laborers and basically took everything. We had no warning whatsoever.
Our group contacted each other and accessed the situation, and are now in the process of rebuilding. The stupid part about this is that there's nothing really stopping someone from complaining again and convincing the police to clear it all out, again. It almost feels like the colonies have no advocacy or representation at all. Sure, the Alexandria Police and Animal Shelters know about the sites, and they're cool with it, but when another party gets involved (the county), then it seems things fall through the cracks and just becomes stupid.
Its all very stupid our group leaders want to just do things covertly and in the shadows, rather than pursing some sort of legal representation.